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ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan informed the National Assembly on Friday that it was without his approval that the name of a previously unknown so-called “Muhajir Republican Army” with a role in Karachi violence had been mentioned in a report submitted to the Supreme Court on Thursday by Attorney General Munir A. Malik.

He said that the existence of such an outfit was mentioned in a meeting he held with security officials in Karachi but the report about it was “not of the level” that it should have been presented to the Supreme Court.

The minister said the portion of the report about the outfit was being withdrawn with an apology to the court.

The attorney general’s report to the court had called for all-out efforts to identify members of the “Muhajir Republican Army” and take action against them.

SACKINGS: The PPP’s parliamentary leader Amin Fahim and some other party members, while speaking on points of order, complained about alleged termination of services of several employees of the Pakistan International Airlines who had been given employment during the previous government and wanted the house to pass a resolution or form a committee to examine the matter.

Defence Production Minister Rana Tanvir Hussain assured the house that although any organisation could resort to ‘downsizing or rightsizing’ on merit, there would be no victimisation on political grounds and the matter could be taken up again in the next session of the house.—Raja Asghar